Friday, September 22, 2017

"Virtual Reality"

at John P Weatherhead Gallery and Goldfish Gallery at the University of Saint Francis

Fort Wayne, Indiana

September 9 through October 12, 2017
Opening Presidential Gala on Saturday September 9 from 6-9pm

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Artist Statement

These charcoal drawings
on plywood are part of a series concentrating on large-scale representation of
contemporary people. They are all members of the arts community both in
Knoxville and Nashville, and I show them unaware of my presence as they attend
exhibit receptions. Humans give off subtle clues as to the culture and social
groupings they inhabit. They wander around in various stages of interaction or
contemplation. The modular nature of flat drawings in a three-dimensional
structure allows me to arrange them in an endless variety of conceptual and
social environments. The return of the drawings to a gallery environment is the
final stage in this virtual reality play.

Where does
mythology originate? Who gets to define and invent it? How much of our older
Western Mythology is relevant now, and how would it be updated?

I’m using
Byzantine decoration, Faberge egg bling, Medieval religious altar construction,
and 21st century design standards to create secular cultural altars
dedicated to who we are, where we’ve come from, and what we obsess about.

My approach
is purely quotidian, from the themes to the materials used. Theater stages and
urban streets are blinged-out with rhinestones and acrylic pellets used in the
floral industry. Halos are made from both costume jewelry earrings and gold
leaf.

My most
recent altars are informed almost entirely by the mixed group of actors and
burlesque performers that regularly model for the arts community where I live.